One of the main activities for teachers when they are not in the classroom is to plan lessons. But what makes lesson planning effective? In this post, we'll talk about how to write a lesson plan and give you some suggestions to plan lessons more effectively. We'll also provide a downloadable lesson plan template. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWE9E8zAYU0 Download our lesson plan template here Don't forget to check out our video about lesson aims Characteristics of a lesson plan Teachers may have varied approaches to lesson planning. Some use lesson plan templates, others make notes in a cour ..read more

Autonomy is one of those words that can be used in various aspects of life, and its meaning varies widely according to the context in which it is found. In psychology and politics, autonomy means the “ability to make informed and uncoerced decisions”. At work, having autonomy might mean you have a certain degree of freedom to make your own choices. What about the language classroom? Why has learner autonomy become such an important concept? What is an autonomous learner? Throughout the years, several authors have come up with definitions of what it means to be an autonomous learner. Henri Hole ..read more

With the social isolation measures and lockdowns taking place due to the novel coronavirus, or Covid-19, teachers all around the globe started teaching English online. This is an update on our post What is Edmodo? and some tips and ideas to help you use this tool effectively. Don't forget to check out or video on this topic and leave your feedback and suggestions in the comment section. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgxkSNU0p8Q Remember to check our other posts and videos on useful tools for online teaching: What is Padlet? What is Google Classroom? What is Edmodo? Edmodo is an educational n ..read more

How many times have we come across an article, a video or a webinar and thought: I’d love to watch this now, but I’ll save it for later? We understand that many of us have found ourselves with a little more time in our hands and might use it to catch up with some reading and watching. We put together a list of recommendations for you - here you’ll find some plenaries, articles, blog posts, and more. The idea is that this list grows with your recommendations: please leave a comment suggesting an addition to this list (but be careful not to infringe copyrights) Our favourite latest blog posts: W ..read more

A lot of teachers are having to switch from face-to-face to online lessons because of social distancing and lockdowns related to Covid-19. Here at What is ELT?, we're trying to help as much as we can. There are a number of digital tools that can come in handy in times like these. Not only can they help us deal with the current crisis, but they are also very useful to reduce our environmental footprint by reducing the amount of paper we use in face-to-face lessons. Here is a compilation of the characteristics of the most popular tools to teach online and use digital spaces. They can help you ..read more

With more and more distancing measures put in place by governments all around the world, Covid-19 is inviting us all to rethink our professional practice and provide safe solutions to ourselves and our students. In times like these, the What is ELT? team believe it is important to keep a level-headed attitude while taking the necessary and responsible precautions to keep safe and protect people who are at most risk. We are learning to deal with the situation ourselves and decided to share some teaching tips to navigate this scenario. Feel free to comment, give suggestions and share your ideas ..read more

In this post, I’ll look into one of the greatest obsessions of English teachers: verb tenses. To many, knowing how to teach grammar and the different forms of the verbs seems to equal knowing how to teach English effectively. But if you think you know what tenses are, you might be in for a surprise! But as usual, we’ll provide you with definitions and examples of verb tenses, as well as tips to teach them more successfully. Before we go into the definition, however, answer this question quickly: how many verb tenses are there in the English language? When I ask teachers the numbers vary treme ..read more

In this post, we’ll talk about the two processes we use to comprehend written and spoken texts: top down and bottom up. We’ll talk about the difficulties students face when ,reading and ,listening to texts, provide definitions, real examples of the processes taking place in learning and share classroom ideas to help you plan effective receptive skills lessons to your learners. Why do students find it difficult to read and listen in a second language? Reading and Listening are both receptive skills, but the difficulties faced by students when reading or listening to a text vary. In reading, we ..read more

Thinking about how to use video in lessons more effectively? In a partnership with BrELT, What is ELT? is offering an online mini-course on how to use videos in the ELT Classroom. This digital workshop is for those who, just like Andreia and Rubinho, love videos and want to maximise learning by using them effectively in the classroom. You will: - Learn about different video genres - Watch a demonstration and brainstorm ideas on how to use videos in different stages of a lesson - Understand the different aims and purposes behind using videos in the classroom - Develop your lesson planning and ..read more

Slightly overshadowed by the plethora of digital classroom tools, apps and resources, the board - black, white, green or interactive - is still the one artifact that most people associate with a classroom. In this post, we'll talk about the importance of planning boardwork, its impact on learning and learners, ideas to make it effective, and alternatives for dealing with visually impaired and blind students. Some history Boards have been used in education for centuries - one of the first accounts of a writing slate being used in a learning context dates back to the 11th century, as described i ..read more